


white roses

by fowlbyname45



Series: Draco Malfoy reader inserts [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, One Shot, Pansy Parkinson is a Good Friend, Ravenclaw Reader, Soft Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27295999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fowlbyname45/pseuds/fowlbyname45
Summary: "But who was your unrequited love directed towards? As soon as your brain posed the question, it knew the answer.Draco Malfoy.The realization made your stomach twist slightly with resentment. Of course he wouldn't love you, a half blood Ravenclaw."OR;The hanahaki fic we all didn't know we needed.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Reader
Series: Draco Malfoy reader inserts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992958
Kudos: 65





	white roses

**Author's Note:**

> did someone say DRACO MALFOY?!  
> (in case you didn't know:  
> y/n - your name  
> l/n - your last name  
> n/n - your nickname)

“Y/n? Y/n!”

At the calling of your name, you looked away from the Slytherin you were currently occupied observing to acknowledge another one: Pansy Parkinson.

“Yeah, what’s up?,” you questioned, remembering that you were in Charms class and needed to be paying attention.

“You were doing it again,” Pansy remarked smugly, a smirk evident on her face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you replied, feigning nonchalance.

“You were looking at Draco. Again. Come on, Y/n, stop denying it.”

You sighed in defeat. “Yeah, I guess I was.”

Pansy nodded knowingly. She used to like the younger Malfoy too, but no longer did - nowadays she was more focused on getting you to tell him how you felt. Even though you were in Ravenclaw, the two of you had formed a sort of friendship during your years at Hogwarts.

You had Chams with the Slytherins, and looked forward to this for two reasons: one, you got to see Pansy, and two, you got to see Draco. You weren’t exactly friends - he wasn’t exactly the friendliest person, after all - but you had nursed a soft spot for him for a while now. Lately he was occupying more and more of your thoughts, which made this time of your day one of the highlights.

You and Pansy continued working on the Charms assignment as you tried (and failed) not to look over at Draco, who was partnered with Blaise Zabini and poorly hiding the fact he’d rather be about anywhere else.

Suddenly, you felt something in your throat. It was almost making you gag and felt generally unpleasant. This caused you to raise your hand and ask Professor Flitwick if you could be excused. Making your way to the girls lavatory, your mind was racing. _What was going on?_ You’ve never had this sensation before. Once you arrived at your destination, you tried calming down but instead felt something making its way up your throat. It wasn’t vomit, but rather something soft and not small. Once it made its way out, you realized it was a flower petal. Now, you didn’t know much about non-magical plants, but you knew enough to gather that the petal was specifically from a white rose. Your initial reaction was one of confusion: why on earth were you suddenly coughing up roses? But then you realized... _oh no_. This was _really_ not good.

 _Hanahaki_.

Every witch and wizard knew about the magical disease caused by unrequited love that could only be cured when said love became reciprocated. But who was your unrequited love directed towards? As soon as your brain posed the question it knew the answer.

Draco Malfoy.

The realization made your stomach twist slightly with resentment. Of course he wouldn’t love you, a half blood Ravenclaw. He wasn’t like that, his _family_ wasn’t like that. You hadn’t interacted with the boy as much as Pansy or Blaise or the rest of his cronies had, but you knew _that_ much about him. Why did it have to be him, with his stupid pretty face and his stupid rich family and the stupid way you kind of thought there was some good in him?

All these feelings suddenly gave way to a new one: fear. Hanahaki was dangerous. It would start to grow painful soon, with the thorns pricking you and eventually drawing blood.

 _You could die_.

You began to cry, hating the white rose petal in the sink more and more every second. After a few minutes of this, you pulled yourself together enough to go back to Charms, which had already ended by now, to get your books and supplies before the next class came in.

What was your life becoming?

*****

Later that day, you were in your common room attempting to focus on your homework, but couldn’t manage as well as you usually could. Deciding to have an early start in the morning instead, you made your way to your dormitory. Luna Lovegood was there, reading the latest edition of the Quibbler upside down.

“Hi Luna,” you said, attempting to sound cheerful.

“Hello Y/n,” she said happily, looking up from her magazine to smile at you. Her expression suddenly turned to one of mild surprise. “Oh my…”

“What?,” you asked, a bit warily.

“Wrackspurts. Your head’s full of them,” she explained. You relaxed - of course it was something of that nature, nothing to worry about. “Has something been bothering you, Y/n?,” Luna asked, tilting her head. “Your head is normally quite free of wrackspurts, but tonight seems different.”

Sighing, you considered whether or not you should tell her. You decided you would; you liked Luna, a lot actually - she was one of your closest friends - and you trusted her enough for this.

“I...I have hanahaki. Just started today.”

The other girl nodded wisely. “I thought that might be what it was. Is the cause of it, by any chance, Draco Malfoy from Slytheirn?”

At that, you looked at her incredulously. “How did you know?”

She shrugged in response. “I see the way you look at him.”

Your face reddened slightly as you mumbled, “It seems everyone does. Except him, of course.”

Luna tilted her head again. “He says rather mean things sometimes, doesn’t he? But I do think a lot of that has to do with his father. Daddy always said that man was no good.”

You smiled ever-so-slightly at Luna’s uncanny ability to speak the honest truth about people (if not about other matters). “Yeah, I think you’re probably right. Well, I’m gonna go to bed now...goodnight, Luna.”

“Goodnight, Y/n,” she responded, smiling serenely and going back to her magazine as you prepared to sleep.

The next day would be there before you knew it.

*****

A few days later, and the hanahaki was getting worse. It was often painful, and blood had definitely started coming up with the petals. You were spending most of your time frantically trying to still pass your classes and avoiding Pansy (who knew something was up with you).

One day, after a particularly challenging Transfiguration lesson, she cornered you in the corridor, a look of determination on her face.

“Alright, Y/n. Fess up. You have hanahaki, don’t you?”

You grimaced and tried to walk past her, but she simply walked in front of you again.

“I said fess up, alright?”

“Okay, okay, geez,” you relented. “Here, let’s go this way,” you said, ducking into an empty classroom. She followed.

“It’s Draco isn’t it?,” Pansy said immediately.

“I mean...sort of,” you allowed.

“I knew it. Oh my God, Y/n, I’m so sorry.”

You shrugged. “Not your fault, Pans. I just...don’t want anyone to know, okay? This is just between you and me.”

She nodded quickly. “Of course. Have you told anyone else?”

“Only Luna Lovegood.”

“Okay.”

Pansy opened her mouth and shut it again, as if she wanted to ask a question but decided against it. She seemed to change her mind, however, as she said, “Just out of curiosity...what kind of flower are they?”

“They’re white roses.”

She nodded solemnly. “That makes sense. I visited his manor once; they have those there.” (You smiled slightly at this new information before she continued.) “You know, Y/n, you really should go to Madam Pomfrey for this.”

You sighed. Why hadn’t you thought of that earlier? “Yeah...yeah, you’re right Pans. I’m just scared.”

“I know,” the girl replied before pulling you into a tight hug. She really could be sweet when she wanted to be.

“I have Potions now, so I’d better go,” you explained.

“Okay, I have Herbology. I’ll see you around, Y/n,” Pansy said, giving you a small, sad smile before you exited the room together to go to your respective classes.

*****

“Now, Y/n, this potion is the best I’ve got for cases like this,” Madam Pomfrey told you, handing you a vial of thick, strangely colored liquid. You took it grudgingly. “Remember, this won’t heal the disease but it will make it more bearable," the nurse told you. You had taken action regarding Pansy’s advice to seek help from the school matron concerning the hanahaki, and she had given you this potion which you were to come back to take every morning and night and which would - under good circumstances - prevent the damage from becoming too great.

Thanking the nurse, you made your way out of the hospital wing. Classes were over for today, so the common room was your destination. On your way to Ravenclaw tower, you noticed an achingly familiar face - Draco was evidently heading to his common room as well, and he was alone which was unusual for him. Deciding to pretend you didn’t see him in order to avoid an awkward situation, you continued on your way. But then - just your luck - he noticed you and the potion you were holding when you passed.

“Hey, L/n, is that hanahaki potion?,” he asked, a little too loudly and not particularly kindly.

You ignored him again and just kept walking, but he caught up to you and started walking in time with your strides.

“It is, isn’t it?,” he pressed, a smirk growing on his face. “Who’s the person then, huh? Probably Corner or Goldstein, right?”

Realizing ignoring him wasn’t getting you anywhere and attention was what he wanted (and maybe once he got it he would leave you alone), you responded “So what if it is?” as confidently as you could.

“I don’t buy it,” said Draco then, probably tipped off by your unconvincing tone. “It’s not _me_ , is it? I know lots of girls fancy me. You’re a half blood, aren’t you?”

Though you were slightly taken aback by how much he was talking and alarm bells were going off in your brain at his wondering if it was him, you scoffed and replied “As if, Malfoy.”

He scrutinized your face for a moment before shaking his head, his smirk growing more arrogant by the second. “See, L/n, us Slytherins know a liar when we see one, and you are most definitely lying. It _is_ me, isn’t it?”

That was the final straw. You whirled around, feeling rather red in the face, and snapped “Why are you even talking to me?! Of _course_ you think it’s you, you think _everything_ is about you! So just _shut up_!”

Draco was evidently not expecting this outburst - he looked at you in surprise, then scowled before stalking off.

Now you’ve done it.

*****

“It was a disaster, Pans,” you moaned. “A complete and total disaster.”

You and Pansy were outside sitting under a tree and supposed to be doing homework, but had spent most of the time talking instead (specifically about the earlier events with Draco). She started rubbing your back sympathetically and said “Gosh Y/n, that’s rough. Do you...do you think maybe you should apologize?”

You gave her a death glare worthy of Hermione Granger at that, and she responded quickly “I mean, he was being a prat of course, but it’s not his fault you have the disease is it? Look, if you apologize and he doesn’t apologize back, then it’s not worth it. But I know Draco, and...I think maybe he’ll come around.”

You sighed. “Why do you always have to be right?”

Pansy grinned back. “You know you love it.”

*****

The next day after Charms class, you caught Draco on the way to the dungeons for Potions. He glanced at you but otherwise ignored your presence. You persisted on, however, taking a deep breath.

This was it.

“Draco, um, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday. I shouldn’t have snapped.”

This caused the boy to stop in his tracks. He looked at you again, properly this time, and you made sure your expression was expectant, as if you were waiting for him to say something back.

“Er, okay,” he started, a little hesitantly. “And, well…” (could he bring himself to say it?) “...I’m sorry too. For pressing you, that is.”

He almost looked surprised at his own words. You smiled slightly - Pansy _had_ been right.

“I think I can forgive you,” you told him, still wearing a small smile. “Look, it’s not your fault nor mine that I have the disease - I know that now - and I know that I can’t make you feel anything for me that you don’t feel already. So…maybe we can just be friends? Just be...civil to one another?”

Draco seemed to consider this. After a moment, he nodded; the two of you shook hands to seal the deal, and you made an effort to ignore the tingles you felt in your palm because of it. Then you went to Defense Against the Dark Arts and he went to Potions, but you couldn’t help grinning all the way down the hallway.

*****

A few months later, and you were still taking the hanahaki potion twice a day. It still hurt sometimes and could be rather inconvenient, but was (as Madam Pomfrey said it would be) bearable.

Being friends (and also sort of in love) with Draco Malfoy was...interesting, to say the least. You had made a habit of studying together in the library, and those times quickly became some of the best moments of your day. He talked a lot, admittedly more than you thought he would - at first, mainly about trivial things like how much he loathed the Gryffindor golden boy Harry Potter and how he was interested in healing magic. But later on, his confidences became heavier and more important, like how even though he idolized and loved his father dearly, there were times when he was actually rather afraid of him. He said mean things, especially to Potter and his friends, but truly felt that he was in a position where he couldn’t act any other way unless he wanted to face the consequences of tarnishing his family’s reputation. And while you understood why people didn’t like him, there were times when it was just the two of you when you couldn’t help thinking that he was beautiful; a work of art, almost downright angelic looking at times.

Anyway, all this to say that there was...well, there was _hope_. Right now, you were in the library as usual, working on a particularly tricky (and extremely boring) Potions essay.

“So, it says here the eye of newt goes in before the fluxweed…,” you said, reading from your textbook. “But does it go in before or after the frog legs?”

Looking over at Draco for his opinion (he had always been gifted at Potions), you didn’t expect to see him looking at you almost wistfully, and in a different way than you had ever seen him look at you. It came to you that that must’ve been how you looked at _him_ when he wasn’t looking before this whole mess happened. Your breath caught in your throat before he looked away quickly and said, in a rushed sort of way, “Oh, um, it goes in before. Yeah, that sounds right.”

You wanted to question him, to ask him what that was all about, but instead just moved on with the assignment. You’d simply forget about whatever just happened, easy as anything.

Spoiler alert: you most definitely didn’t forget.

*****

Usually, every morning before classes you would cough up a petal or two and go to the hospital wing to take your preventative potion. But this morning, there were no white rose petals in sight. That was certainly odd…

Later in the day, you decided to ask Pansy for her opinion, just as you had done so many times before. “This morning I didn’t cough up anything...and, well, that…that can only mean one thing, can’t it?”

The girl’s expression was one of awe and surprise. “Hell yeah it can! Merlin’s beard, Y/n, I think...I think he has feelings for you now too. I think you’re _cured_.”

Oh how you had been hoping for her to say that. Even though you had convinced yourself that you were content with just being friends with Draco, you knew you were still in love with him when your heart leapt at Pansy’s words.

“Go, N/n. Find him,” the other girl told you, smiling.

You didn’t need to be told twice. Hurrying down the Transfiguration hallway where, if you were lucky, he had just finished class, you scanned the group of students in various colored ties for a familiar head of platinum blonde hair. Spotting what you were looking for, you ran over to him through the other students and touched his shoulder to get his attention. He turned to look at you, seeming genuinely happy it was you he was looking at (which did nothing to help your already rapidly beating heart).

“Y/n, what are you doing here?,” he asked, realizing that you were where you shouldn't be.

“I...I need to talk to you if that’s okay,” you replied. “I have a free period.”

He nodded. “So do I.”

“Here, let’s go this way then,” you suggested, moving towards the empty classroom you had once told Pansy about your hanahaki in. Draco raised an eyebrow in mild confusion, but otherwise didn’t protest as he followed you.

Once the din of Hogwarts students moving to their classes was shut out by the closed door, Draco said, seeming concerned,“Y/n, are you doing okay? Did you remember to take your potion this morning?”

You looked up at him. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t need to.”

“Didn’t need to? Why wouldn't you…,” the boy wondered aloud, frowning slightly. And then it dawned on him. “Oh. _Oh_. You mean…,” he trailed off, a note of - could it be? - hope entering his voice.

You nodded, a smile growing on your face. “Caught feelings for me, huh Malfoy?”

He grinned back, moving a little closer to you and taking your hands in his. Your heart rate picked up. “I guess I did.”

You would’ve kissed him right then and there, but there were still a few things you needed to discuss. “I’m a half blood, Dray. Nothing special. I doubt your father would approve of me,” you admitted, feeling a bit sadder than you had a few moments before but knowing the conversation needed to be had.

Draco’s smile dimmed a little at that, but he teasingly said “I forgot you were a Ravenclaw, of course you want to sort all this out right away.”

You shrugged as if to say, “Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Okay. First of all, don’t say you aren’t anything special, because you are. And second of all, who said my father needs to know?” (He shot you a roguish smile as he said this, which, again, did nothing for your heart rate.) “He’s more tolerable towards half bloods than Mud- I mean Muggle-borns anyway.”

You mulled that over. It was his life, after all, and if you both wanted to be together in it then who were you to object? “Okay. I mean, things won’t be perfect or easy or anything, but...okay,” you said, giddy at the prospect of making what you and Draco had (whatever that was) work.

The boy seemed satisfied with that answer as he moved back closer to you and picked up your hands again, gently rubbing your thumb. “So, I like you and you like me, yeah?,” he asked.

You let out a soft laugh at that. “I would say that’s a fair assumption, yes.”

“So does that mean I can kiss you?”

Your heart jumps and you nod, hardly believing that this was happening. Draco leans in and presses his lips gently on to yours, causing you to wrap your arms around his neck and reciprocate as butterflies flutter around your stomach.

From that day on, you never saw another white rose petal (unless you counted the ones at Draco’s manor), and you never forgot what it felt like to fall in love.

Falling in love is such a confusing thing; it can make you lightheaded with happiness and draw blood with thorns, but you know one thing: sometimes, it ended with butterflies, and sometimes - just sometimes -

_there was hope_.

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh i hope you enjoyed!! please feel free to lmk if you did, i live off of comments and am a little iffy about this one eek


End file.
